The Congress of South African Trade Unions says it’s not surprised by Friday’s quarterly crime statistics that have increased in most categories. In a statement released yesterday, the union says austerity cuts have slowed down the rate of recruitment of police since 2014 and the lack of adequate funding for law enforcement agencies is the source of this deterioration in safety standards. Cosatu says the police headcount has over the past 5 years, declined from over 192 000 to 172 000.